Centrifugal impeller mill with rotating target



June 20, 1950 H. A. FISHER ET AL 2,512,523

CENTRIFUGAL IMPELLER MILL WITH ROTATING TARGET Filed June 24, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 20, 1950 H. A. FISHER ET AL CENTRIFUGAL IMPELLER MILL WITH ROTATING TARGET 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 24, 1946 INVENTORS. Mama/v A 55/15? Eastm- RA mm:

Patented June 20, 1950 I OFFICE CENTRIEUGAL IMPELLER MILL VJITH RQ-TATING TARGET Herman A. Fisher, Hammond, Ind., and Robert-Itainnie, Chicago, Ill.

Application June 24, 194e, swarm. 678,985

This invention relates to new and improved machines for grinding materials such as grain and other substances which lend themselves to being ground.

In the. process of extracting oils from a substance, jsuch as corn kernels, it is necessary to crush thekernels in a manner sllqhas to free and separate the germ cells, containing the oil from theremainderof the kernel. Inprior art methods, as by passing the kernels between rotating rollers er burrs to carry out the grinding function, it is impossible to free all of the oil-carrying germ celis without damaging the same to a high percent-age. and thereby losing a large part of the, oil.

l'tis, a principal object of the present invention to, provide. means for processingthe grain, etc., in such a manner as to break the kernels apart without damage to the germ cells so that a. higher percentage of oil may be extracted, and to this end it; is herein proposed to break the kernels anart by the use of centrifugal force and thereby hurling th rain or o her substan n r trolled force against a hard, unyielding surface, this action being distinct from striking the grain to impel the same and also distinct from the use of air pressure as by fans, these last two methods being largely uncontrollable and hence producing non-uniform breaking up of the material being processed. i

It is also a primary object of this invention to grind grain and other substances in a more uniform manner by means of centrifugal force without the use of crushing rollers or burrs.

Other objects of the invention include the provision of a high speed vane impeller, the substance to be ground being fed into the center of motion thereof, and hurled substantially tangentially outward by the vanes against a hard surface which may be stationary, but is preferably moving so as to provide a, continuous clean grinding or breaking surface, and in further combination with means to vary the force with which the grain or other substance is slung or hurled; and the provision of means to clean the grinding or breaking surface and to vary the speed of the vanes and the distance of the centrifugal impeller from the grinding surface.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a machine illustrating a form of the invention, parts being in sec 2 Claims. (Cl. 24;]r-167) Fig. 2 i a view in vertical, longitudinal section of the machine of Fig. 1,

3 is, a, view in vertical, longitudinal section of a modified machine, and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section through distrib utor, showing the relation thereof to the centrifugal impeller vanes, and taken on line 4-4; of Fig. 1.

As shown by way of illustration in- Figs. 1 and 2, a base it may be used to mount an impeller-base,

ti and a grinder housing It. A motor or other prime mover it is mounted on base I2 and may having vanes 24 secured to a plate 26 mounted on:

a. support 28 to be rotated by shaft 39 of the motor,,but of course any other driving hook-up is usable without departing from the scopeor the, invention.

It is to be noted that the vanes 24; are: centrally interrupted to leave a central free space. andthe material to be processed is fed by any desired.

means to this center, so that such material must be impelled outwardly along the; vanes; to the outer ends thereof and then hurled. or slungin a tangentialmanner from. the impeller... Since. the material at the moment of discharge from the outer ends of the vanes is moving at the peripheral speed of the impeller, it is seen that the hurling force is constant and is a known quality as distinct from air pressure or striking devices which when acting on materials of the class described. Hence, the present construction provides a uniformity of product not heretofore obtainable, and may be used even with soft plastic materials or slurries with efficient results.

The impeller ishoused in a circular casing 32 having an exit spout or similar extension 34 slidably fitting an entrance 36 leading into the housing M, thus providing a sufficient adjustment of the conduit from the impeller to the grinding surface. This target surface may assume many forms but is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 as a roll 38 mounted on a shaft 40 in the housing l4 and driven by a motor 42 or other means. A brush 44 may be used to clean the roll so that a clean disintegrating target surface is always presented to the incoming stream of material as indicated at 46.

In order to feed the material to the vanes properly, a distributor 48 is used at the center of the impeller. The distributor is open at one side only as at 50 so that the material is fed out to the vanes at a. single point and is uniformly hurled out to the vane ends. The distributor may be turned to locate the opening thereof at any desired rotative angle relative to the impeller and may have an inclined floor 52 to prevent the material from being caught at the side opposite the opening.

In Fig. 3 there is shown an equivalent machine having the impeller 54 mounted on a horizontal axis and hurling the material as before, but against a rotary target disk 56. In this case a brush 58 may be used as shown for cleaning the disk.

This invention is seen to provide an apparatus using centrifugal force only, for the purpose described and carrying out the objects of the invention. The material is delivered to the center of the high speed rotary impeller and accelerated to the speed of the periphery thereof, or tips of the vanes, which guide the material from the center to the periphery. A high velocity is imparted to the material and the impeller, without shock or reversal of direction between the material and impeller and without loss of power. This enables the application of high velocity to heavy materials and the generation of great striking force at the disintegrating or impact point. Also, it is pointed out that regardless of the nature of the material processed, no energy is lost or absorbed by the material until the impact point is reached, and even soft materials and slurries may be efficiently processed.

In addition, the moving impact surface is always clean and the material is not cushioned by ground or crushed matter adhering thereto, so that there is never any loss of breaking effect; also, the speed of the moving impact surfaces may be varied for best efficiency, and the variation in speed of the impeller and adjustment of the distance from the impeller to the impact surface provides for processing widely different materials at maximum efliciency.

Having thus described our invention and the advantages thereof, we do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than is set forth in the claims, but what we claim is:

1. Apparatus of the class described comprising a supporting base, a motor thereon, radially vaned rotary impeller carried and driven by the motor on a vertical axis, a central hopper for the impeller, a rotary impact target on a horizontal axis in position to receive material on the periphery thereof from the impeller, means to adjust the motor and, therefore, the impeller toward and away from the target, the latter being fixedly mounted with respect to the length of the supporting base, and a rotary brush contacting the periphery of the target at a point thereon opposite the area of reception of the material.

2. Apparatus of claim 1 including a housing for the target and a housing for the impeller, and telescoping extensions on the housings forming an adjustable enclosed passage for the material as it progresses from the impeller to the target.

HERMAN A. FISHER. ROBERT RAINNIE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 176,176 Guilder Apr. 18, 1876 271,138 Sharpneck Jan. 23, 1883 447,674 Frank Mar. 3, 1891 493,887 Gamble Mar. 21, 1893 507,140 Kimplen Oct. 24, 1893 878,878 Graupner Feb. 11, 1908 1,243,121 Willis Oct. 16, 1917 1,267,110 Parsons et a1 May 21, 1918 1,411,177 Mitchell Mar. 28, 1922 1,884,544 Borton Oct. 25, 1932 1,921,914 Edman Aug. 8, 1933 2,040,816 Kaemmerling May 12, 1936 2,148,448 Edwards Feb. 28, 1939 2,155,151 Schacht Apr. 18, 1939 2,216,611 Dimm Oct. 1, 1940 2,248,526 Francois July 8, 1941 2,352,327 Kirn June 27, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 32,378 Germany Aug. 14, 1885 411,485 France Apr. 12, 1910 238,117 Great Britain Aug. 13, 1925 309,854 Great Britain June 25, 1928 

